CIGR Newsletter No 52
++ CIGR NEWS ++ CIGR NEWS ++ CIGR NEWS ++
NEWS FROM THE PRESIDIUM
Report from Meetings Attended in England and Niger
During the months of May and June, I was invited to two international meetings dealing with two fields of particular importance for developing countries: (i) research develop-ment and (ii) training in agricultural engineering.
(i) In May, I attended the FAO International Workshop on Management of Irrigation and Drainage Research, which took place from Tuesday May 23rd to Thursday 26th in HR Wallingford near Oxford., England. HR Wallingford is an independent research and consultancy organization specializing in civil engineering hydraulics and the water environment.
The workshop was sponsored by IPTRID (The International Program for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage). IPTRID is an independent program with its own institutional framework based in FAO. It is sponsored by FAO, the World Bank, and ICID (International Commission of Irrigation and Drainage) as international donors. The workshop of IPTRID on research management was attended by senior managers in irrigation and drainage research institutes and centers in developing countries. Participants came from 18 countries, representing the 5 continents and FAO. The following African countries were represented: Egypt, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Senegal. Representatives from the US Bureau of Reclamation, ILRI and participants from Australia, Canada and England also attended the workshop. With several participants I had the opportunity to discuss CIGR network activities, its regional associations and its electronic journal, as well as the CIGR memor al Congress in November 2000 in Japan.
During the workshop, I met with Dr Bart Schultz, the President of ICID. He acknowledged the quality of the CIGR Handbook of Agricultural Engineering, particularly Volume 1 edited by Dr. Van Lier and Dr. Pereira, Past President and President respectively of Section 1 of CIGR. Through its Technical Section 1, CIGR together with ICID co-sponsors various seminars and workshops in the field of land and water use. Section 1had one of its board meetings, which I attended, during the 17th International Congress of ICID held in September 1999 in Granada, Spain.
The technical sessions of the FAO International Workshop covered the following aspects:
* Managing Innovation: how to encourage and get the best out of innovative thinking and to build research capacity
* Managing Research: research planning, programming and implementation cycle
* Uptake of research findings: dissemination, identifying key lessons learned, adoption and technology transfer
The program also included a presentation of the IPTRID INFONET system and the dissemination of the work of the Global Water Partnership.
Participants were invited to tour the physical modeling and research facilities of HR Wallingford, which come up to about 29,000 square metres of covered laboratory space, in which large models for rivers and estuaries can be built. The buildings also house the flood channel and coastal research facilities.
(ii) From June 12th to 19th, I was invited by the Francophone University Agency (AUF) to Niamey, Niger, to attend a meeting of the regional centers of specialized studies in agriculture (CRESA). There are four such centers in French speaking Africa, one of them for specialized studies in irrigation in Rabat, Morocco. This center is located at the Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine and I am its co-ordinator. It opened in 1992 and trains about 12 students every year for a master degree in agricultural engineering with emphasis on irrigation and water management. For the other three centers, the fields of studies and locations are respectively: agrarian systems (Niger), Forestry and Wood (Cameroon) and rural engineering (Burkina Faso). The latter is located in the Inter States School of Rural Equipment of Ouagadougou and offers engineering training to participants coming from a network of 14 French speaking African countries.
The meeting in Niamey took place at the agricultural college of the University of Niamey and aimed at reviewing the curricula and budgets of the four centers and identifying ways to develop network activities. I met with the Director of Graduate Studies, Mr. Babakar Dieng, and we examined the possibility for him to make this network apply for membership in CIGR. He informed me that there is already an association of this region which is a member of ICID. I gave him a copy of the French version of the CIGR newsletter and briefed him about the Tsukuba memorial congress.
By having the French speaking countries from west Africa join CIGR, the world-wide network of CIGR will have a better representation on the African continent in which it already has as members a number of national associations and one regional association, the South and East of Africa Society of Agricultural Engineers (SEASAE).
Prof. El Houssine Bartali
Incoming CIGR President
In Response to
Professor Robert Stefan Rowinski’s Letter (Newsletter 51)
Having just read Prof. Rowinski's letter in the July 2000 issue of the CIGR Newsletter, I am prompted to comment, using the order of topics as he presented them. My comments are based in part on participation in several CIGR Congresses starting in 1969 at Baden-Baden, Germany. While the number of papers, fragmentation of topics, and localized applicability of problems addressed can be of concern, my view is that limiting the Congress as proposed ("...it should be mainly, though not only, devoted to the basic problems [discussed by experts]...") would discourage attendance and participation by those who have not yet reached the status of "expert"; i.e., those of the younger generation whose participation and ideas are vital to the CIGR mission. Perhaps the suggested Congress approach could be used more fully in planning invited papers for plenary sessions, while retaining the opportunity for presentation of submitted papers in smaller sub-group sessions. There is another k y element that is crucial for continued participation by younger scholars – the building of networks among engineers around the world. I still have good technical, as well as personal, interactions with some of the colleagues that I met at the 1969 and subsequent Congresses and other CIGR-sponsored meetings.
On the second issue discussed by Prof. Rowinski (research carried on in agricultural engineering), I am in full agreement with the need for increased emphasis on interdisciplinary efforts to strengthen the scientific outcome, whether or not the outcome is a mathematical model. It has been my experience that a clear definition ("roadmap") of the problem, along with an enthusiastic, multidisciplinary group to address the problem goes a long way toward a successful outcome.
LeRoy Hahn
Biological Engineering Research Unit
U.S. Meat Animal Research Center
CORRECTION
Concerning the article "The Philippines: A Group of Individuals" in the section "New Members of CIGR" in Newsletter No. 51, the editors are grateful to have received the following correction concerning the editors’ remark that "at the moment, there is no national society of Philippine Agricultural Engineering". The information provided here was forwarded to the editors by Danielito T. Franco.
The Philippines has a national society for agricultural engineers, named as THE PHILIPPINE SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS (PSAE), founded in 1950, and now has some 4,000 members nation-wide. In fact, many of the thirty two (32) new CIGR members of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering, College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Engineering (IAE,CEAT), U.P. Los Baños are also members of this society. Over the years, PSAE has been active in strengthening the agricultural engineering profession, organizational development, policy advocacy, institutional linkage development, among other activities. It aims to harness the potentials of agricultural engineers for the modernization of the Philippines' agricultural and fisheries sectors and to help in the development of the country socially, politically, and economically.
Danielito T. Franco
Director of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering
NEWS FROM REGIONAL AND NATIONAL SOCIETIES
Report on the 5th Meeting of the EurAgEng SIG (Special Interest Group) on Soil and Water
The EurAgEng SIG SW 20 on Soil and Water held its fifth Meeting in Warwick (UK) on Wed 5 July 2000, during the AgEng2000 Conference "Agricultural Engineering Into the Third Millennium". The meeting was chaired by Prof. Daniele De Wrachien, Institute of Agricultural Hydraulics of the State University of Milan, and as secretary acted Dr. Francesca Somma, Department of Agricultural Engineering of the University of Catania.
In his opening speech the Chairman reviewed the progress made since the fourth meeting (Oslo, 22 August 1998). After the Chairman’s speech the meeting focused on the following items:
* Fields of Interest and Special Interest Groups
* Membership, Network of Correspondents and Website
* Interrelationships between the SIG and other national and international Organizations which deal with the same field of knowledge
* Definition of a three year rolling plan of the Group’s activities
The conclusions of the meeting are the following:
1. Field of Interest and Special Interest Group
Prof. De Wrachien made known that the SIGs have been grouped into nine Fields of Interest, to enable members to enrol in all the groups relating to their interest. The Chairman pointed out that:
* The Fields of Interest will become permanent scientific and technical structures, while the SIGs will be temporary frameworks or subcommittees, living or dying according to the interest and activity they generate. If there is no demand for a particular SIG it will be discontinued, whilst new ones can be established to achieve particular goals or carry out specific tasks.
* The President or Vice President of EurAgEng, acting as Chairman of the Fields of Interest will assist the Coordinators in the fulfilment of their tasks, ask Executive and Council for the support and co-sponsorship of events organised by the Fields of Interest, provide a channel of communication to the EurAgEng governing bodies, and, at the end of the AgEng Conferences, chair a meeting attended by the Fields of Interest Co-ordinators and the SIG Chairmen to check the progress made and define future activities.
Prof. De Wrachien informed that the EurAgEng Council, which came together in Warwick on July 3rd, had appointed him as the EurAgEng Vice President and the Chairman of the Fields of Interest.
2. Membership, Network of Correspondents and Web Site
According to the 1999-2000 issue of the EurAgEng Member’s Yearbook, about 500 members formally announced their interest in the Group’s activity. A network of 25 correspondents from 16 countries has been set up and is now operating. With reference to this issue, the Chairman proposed to appoint Prof. Eduard Klaghofer, Head of the Institute for Land and Water Management Research of the Austrian Agency for Water Management, as the Austrian representative within the networking system. The participants agreed on the proposal.
3. Interrelationships between the SIG and other Frameworks
Apart from the Network of Correspondents, the Group, with the aim of speeding up the process of collection, selection and exchange of information and at the same time to avoid duplications and overlaps, created a multilevel networking system, with links and feedback among the different levels. All this required an interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral approach, using system engineering methodology to recognize the necessary interrelationships. The network represents a rather unique opportunity for the Group to show to its partners its role and involvement not only across Europe, but also at a world-wide level, and to emphasise its ability to carry a significant message for a variety of scientific and technical standpoints. The nodes of the network are represented by:
* CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomical Studies)
* CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural Engineering)
* EurAgEng (European Society of Agricultural Engineers)
* IAHR (International Association for Hydraulic Research)
* ICID (International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage)
Co-operation with other national and international organizations impinging upon similar themes are solicited and welcome. The ultimate aim is to help young scientists and professionals to develop their knowledge and ability.
In this context, and recognizing the fact that the ICID Working Bodies on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources for Crop Production and on Drainage and the EurAgEng SIG on Soil and Water are all international, professional oganizations engaged in water and land management issues, Prof. De Wrachien asked the members to agree on two Memoranda of Understanding between the SIG and the previously mentioned frameworks. The documents define terms of close co-operation and mutual assistance for knowledge transfer among the consenting parties at both the European and the world-wide level. A site on the internet outlining the structure, the scope, the strategies and the activities of the Group is now available at http://www.eurageng.demon.co.uk (Page: Special Interest Group, Item: SIG on Soil and Water).
4. Forward Activity Programme
For the three-year-period 2000-2002 the Chairman notified that eight scientific events, organized with the help and the scientific support of the Group, have been scheduled. He also pointed out that the number of scientific events will probably increase due to the fact that in the future the need for a better co-ordination among different professional and scientific organizations is expected to grow. To better define future activities it was also agreed that
* the correspondents, the representatives of the organizations linked with the group, and the members have to submit to the Chairman at least once a year a report which highlights the most important events occurring in their countries or organizations and falling under the interest of the group, along with their suggestions and proposals for suitable themes of research and feasible technical and scientific meetings,
* the Chairman has to co-ordinate and manage the activities at European level, help in the organization of the meetings, ask the EurAgEng Executive and Council for their co-sponsorship, draw up an annual report, update the Activity-Plan, and circulate the documents through the group’s network, the EurAgEng Web Server and the CIGR Newsletter,
* the Group, through the Chairman and the Correspondents, has to interact with further frameworks already operating at national and international levels in the same field, improve the networking system and render it truly capable of promoting a growing role for the science of soil and water and associated disciplines in the development of agricultural engineering in various countries and regions.
The group agreed to hold its next meeting in Budapest in July 2002, during the EurAgEng International Conference.
Prof. Daniele De Wrachien
EurAgEng Vice President and
Chairman SIG on Soil and Water
New ASAE President
Mr. Harmon L. Towne has succeeded Mr. Larry F. Huggins as President of ASAE. He can be contacted at 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659, USA.
New EurAgEng President
Within the European society, Prof. Bent S. Bennedsen has succeeded Prof. Jaime Ortiz-Cañavate as the President of EurAgEng. Direct correspondence to The Royal Veterinary & Agricultural University, Dept. of Agricultural Engineering, Agrovej 10, 2630, Taastrup, Denmark.
Report on the First International IFAC Conference on Modelling and Control in Agriculture, Horticulture and Post-Harvest Processing– AgriControl2000
The conference was held in Wageningen, The Netherlands, from 10-12 July, 2000. Over 100 participants from 28 countries participated in the first international IFAC Conference on agricultural applications of control. The conference was a natural follow-up of a series of successful workshops in the past years. Four plenary key note addresses and two parallel streams of altogether 10 presentation sessions, as well as a poster session showed that agricultural and horticultural production and post-harvest processing have become hightec sectors, where ideas from the world of system dynamics and control can be applied with profit.
A key note address by K. C. Ting from Rutgers University (presently Ohio State University) presented an inside view into the challenges of production for advanced life support systems in space, from which much can be learned for advanced on-earth production as well. Successful sessions on climate control, protected cultivation and animal production showed that production can be controlled and optimized in an economic and environmental sense by applying modern control theory, while assuring human and animal welfare.
A. Munack from Germany gave an interesting overview about expected developments in agricultural production, in the frame of the needs of the growing world population. The challenge is to assure sustainability while increasing production and production quality. It is clear that precision agriculture, harvesting robots, and modern information technology, for instance, will play a key role. The methodology also requires advanced sensors and image processing techniques. This was the subject of an overview given by H. Murase from Japan, who coined the term Biomechatronics, and of an interesting session on this subject.
Production must be followed by storage and processing. Several sessions were devoted to these issues. J. van Impe (Belgium) showed how optimization techniques could be used to optimize identification experiments as well as to improve the performance of bio-processes at the same time. W. Jongen from The Netherlands discussed how research and development could be guided by the notion that production is part of a chain.
The best paper award was granted to R. Linker from Israel, while the best poster reward went to Mrs. P. Barreiro (from Spain, working in Belgium). The Conference allowed the participants to strengthen old friendships and establish new contacts in a friendly atmosphere. To this also contributed the cozy conference dinner on board of a ship travelling along the Neder-Rhine river. The convenor, G. van Straten, and the chairman of the local organizing committee, J. Bontsema, received the IFAC outstanding contribution award. There were also awards for the chairman of the CC on Life Support Systems, Y. Hashimoto, and the chairmen of the TC on Modelling and Control in Agricultural Processes, I. Farkas, and the TC on Intelligent Control in Agricultural Automation, H. Murase, for their continuous efforts to put the field of agricultural control on the IFAC agenda.
Several participants took the opportunity to make themselves familiar with the progress in this area in The Netherlands by taking part in the post-conference excursions to the co-organising IMAG and A TO, two outstanding research institutes in Wageningen.
Prof. G. van Straten
Chairman of the
International Scientific Program Committee
